DIY Crib Mobile for Under $10

Want something to soothe you’re newborn while in the crib, but don’t want to spend a fortune? Crib Mobiles can cost anywhere between $30 to $60! For something that will be used for only a portion of the day for only a portion of the tiny’s life, it seemed a bit cray cray to spend that much money! So I decided to get crafty, and make my own. I had all of the materials needed below already, so this actually cost me ZERO dollars to make; however, if you don’t have them, no worries, I’ve included the links to the most likely culprits that you’ll need to buy, for the cheapest I could currently find.

Let’s get started!

Materials Needed:

Wire Hanger/Cross Stich Hoop:

I had an old wire hanger in my closet, but if you don’t have one, you can always ask for one from a store, such as goodwill/Walmart, or I’m sure a family member/friend would be happy to give one away!

If you prefer to not have to cut & bend metal, a cross stitch hoop is a great alternative!

Note: The larger the circle is, the more tulle you’ll need!

Wire Hanger

Wire Cutter:

If you use a wire hanger, you will need a wire cutter to cut off the hook/twisted part at the top.

Tulle:

I had some leftover from a previous project; however, you can purchase them for relatively cheap at Walmart. Based on the color palate, feel free to choose a tulle/variety of tulle that will compliment the room. Personally, I used a gold glitter and silver glitter tulle, for a touch of Sparkle.

You could buy a heart cutter from Amazon/Craft Store, but I chose just to freestyle it, and use scissors while cutting my hearts.

You’ll also need the scissors to cut the tulle.

Ribbon/String:

This is what you’ll use to hang from the circle with the paper hearts.

TIP: If you have leftover tulle & no ribbon, you could cut the tulle into strips and use it instead!

Old Book/Magazine/Paper:

This is what you’ll use to make the hearts for the string.

FUN TIP: To make this craft even easier, find a book with the length or width that is HALF the length of the tulle you want for your mobile. I’ll explain why this makes it easier later

Double-Sided Tape:

This is what you’ll use to tape the hearts on the string, so once you put the other heart back to back, it will hide the tape/string, & will give it a cleaner look.

Don’t have any? You can find it at Amazon for $2.39 – Scotch Double Sided Tape with Dispenser, 1/2 x 250 Inches

Hook/Way to Hang the Mobile:

I personally chose to hang my mobile from the ceiling, so I used a small white hook; however, you could use a plant holder placed on the wall, or some other method of your choosing.

Now that we’ve got the materials, let’s start crafting!

Directions:

Cut the Wire Hanger – (If using a Cross Stitch Hoop, you can skip this step.)

Using the wire cutters, cut off the hook on either side of the twisted part. You want to end up with a smooth wire.

Using the wire cutters or your hands, bend the wire to make it as smooth and straight as possible.

Make the Wire a Circle

You can either try wrapping it around a circular object, or use your hands to mold it into a circular shape.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, since the tulle will cover up the wire, just get it as close as possible.

Tape the Wires

Using either the double sided tape, or electrical tape, tape the two ends of the wire together. You may want to overlap the ends of the wires some, to make taping easier.

Cut the Tulle

This is where my FUN TIP comes in handy!

Take the book that has the length/width of HALF the length of the tulle that you’re wanting, and wrap the tulle around that side. After wrapping the book several times with your tulle, once you feel you have enough, cut the tulle along ONE EDGE of the book. Once you’re done, you will have a TON of tulle strips, in half the time & all being almost the same length!

***If you have questions about this step, feel free to comment below and I’ll be happy to explain further.

Tie/Loop the Tulle on the Wire Hoop

Take one piece of tulle & attach it to the wire hoop. This can be done in various ways, which will create various looks. For example:

Loop It: Take the tulle, fold it in half & place it around the wire, threading the two ends through it, to create a “knotted” look

Looping the Tulle

Tie It: Take the tulle & simply tie it to the wire. Personally, I tied mine to where the tulle was even in length on both sides.

Either method that you choose, you will continue to do so around the entire wire hoop until it is covered end-to-end in tulle.

Make sure to fluff & adjust the tulle to your liking.

Cut the Ribbon/String/Tulle

Depending on how long you want the mobile to be will determine how long you need the string to be. Also, if you want them to be various heights, keep that in mind as well while cutting.

NOTE: The more string you have the “busier” the mobile will be, and the less string you have the “simpler” it will be.

Cut the Hearts

Using the heart cutter/scissors, cut out your paper hearts.

Personally I used an old book, ripped out several pages at once, and then cut out the hearts in various sizes. This way it gave me several hearts in the same size, but also a variety to work with.

Tape the Hearts

Using the double sided tape, I placed one paper heart on the ribbon, put a piece of double sided tape over the ribbon onto the heart, and then placed an identical paper heart on top. This allows it too look like one heart on both sides, without seeing the ribbon/tape.

I taped one heart on the bottom of the ribbon, and one along the center. Since my ribbons were all different sizes, it gave it a less uniform look when hanging the mobile.

Tie the String to the Wire

In between the tulle, tie the string to the wire. I tried to keep mine spaced evenly, so I used the knotted tulle for reference and tied the string in between every 10 or so knots.

Tie (3) Pieces of Tool to the Mobile for Hanging

In order to hang my mobile, I used a small hook in the ceiling, and then tied (3) pieces of tool to the mobile in a Triangle Shape, to keep the mobile balanced while hanging.

Next, I tied the 3 pieces of tulle together in a knot, and then looped the knot on the hook to hang.

Keep in mind, the length of the tulle needs to be perfectly even and spaced in order for it to be balanced while hanging.

DIY Crib Mobile

Voila! Now you have a Crib Mobile for under $10 that will both entertain your precious baby and your precious budget!

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Have another way of creating your DIY mobile that you’d like to share? Feel free!!

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